Today is a Gift
by Angel16
Summary: A brief pause between eps 56 of my virtual season five.


Today is a Gift

By: Angel Koerkel

Genre: General episodic

Disclaimer: I do not own Enterprise, Star Trek, or any character therein. This is purely for entertainment and I am not making any money from it.

Rating: G, I guess

Summary: A brief intermission between episodes five and six of my virtual season five.

XXXX

T'Pol drifted. She knew neither hot nor cold, dark nor light. She simply was. Slowly her mind began to become aware of itself. At first, she knew that something was not right, although she could not have said how she knew that. Gradually, her sense of self grew until her name was a real thing in her mind and she imagined a body for herself. As this new form floated freely in the space of her subconscious, more of reality seeped into her thoughts. After a time, she created a place for her to be within the emptiness. Its stark whiteness was in contrast to the nothingness of before, and she rested where she thought the floor should be. Finally, she pulled her memories out from their hiding place in the farthest corners of her mind.

The most recent memory came first. She had been on the bridge. The Romulans attacked and there was a blast. She recalled falling as a noise erupted from nearby and something seemed to pass across her head. Then there was simply nothing.

Her thoughts traveled backward through time quickly. In the blink of an eye, she was back to her first day on Enterprise. One more second and she had gone through her career in espionage. Literally in a heartbeat, she watched herself grow younger by decades until finally T'Pol of Vulcan looked on herself as a small child. Now the passage of time slowed and began to move forward at a seemingly normal pace. She watched the memory play out like one of Trip's movies on a vidscreen.

The younger version of herself stood ramrod straight in perfect imitation of the older Vulcans surrounding her. Her tiny hands clasped themselves firmly at the small of her back and her short dark hair lay meticulously shaped around the tips of her ears. However, there was a light in the child's eyes, a tiny flicker of a smile touched the corners of her mouth, and she seemed on the verge of bouncing on her toes with excitement.

The landing platform around the girl was crowded with Vulcans of all ages going about their daily business, awaiting shuttles, either arriving or departing, so that they could continue on their way. But, the child T'Pol was there for the pure joy of greeting her second-foremother when she stepped off her transport.

It had been a bit of a bribe made by T'Les. T'Pol had been quite negligent in her studies ever since hearing about T'Mir's impending visit. So in order to motivate the child, T'Les had agreed that she would be allowed to accompany her to the transport station only if all of her work had been completed for the past week. It had been difficult for T'Pol to concentrate, but somehow she managed and at less than an hour before the scheduled time, she finished her last assignment.

Now the two females stood side-by-side on the platform, looking less alike than ever before. T'Les stood at rigid attention, her face impassive, as she watched dutifully for the appropriate shuttle. As the small ship approached, T'Pol's impatience grew exponentially and her eyes danced with anticipation. T'Mir was unlike anyone else T'Pol knew, and the polar opposite of T'Les, which pleased T'Pol to no end.

Of course, her mother blamed the older woman's eccentricities on her age. Even Vulcans had been known to suffer its effects, after all, and she was exceptionally old. T'Pol had heard that T'Mir had once been the very embodiment of logic and suppressed emotion, but she had a hard time reconciling that knowledge with the woman who had just walked off the ship with a twinkle in her eye that turned to a slight smile upon seeing T'Pol.

Several days after T'Mir's arrival, T'Pol was awakened from her sleep to the sounds of arguing, an uncommon occurrence in any Vulcan household. Not that Vulcans didn't disagree, they just tended to do it quietly, using logical statements to make their points rather than raised voices. But on this particular night, a very vocal disagreement made its way through the house and to T'Pol's ears.

"Absolutely not! I can not believe you would even suggest such a thing!" she heard her mother's voice raised above its normal volume.

"Why are you so stubborn, T'Les? I took you when you were her age, and your mother before that. She is the last of my line that I will be able to show the site to, and I have held onto this life just long enough to take her." T'Mir's voice shook with anger and something else, sadness, maybe?

Footsteps echoed down the narrow hallway and T'Pol knew that her mother was pacing. She always paced when she knew she was wrong but looking for a way out of admitting it. "Just because you felt it necessary to expose us to that does not mean I will allow my daughter to set foot there!"

A pause settled heavily over them to be broken by the soft tones of T'Mir as the sadness won out. "Very well, if that is your wish. She is your daughter and I will abide by it." A few moments later, T'Pol heard T'Mir's door close and then the unmistakable sound of crying drifted through the thin wall that separated their rooms. T'Pol wished desperately that her father were there and not gone on assignment for the Science Academy.

They were gathered in the sitting room the following day when T'Les surprised T'Pol by announcing that she would not be going to school that day. Even more surprised was T'Mir when T'Les continued. "Your second-foremother would like to take you on a trip, T'Pol."

The child nearly burst out in laughter at her surprise, but she managed to control herself at the last moment. "Where will we go?" she asked with barely restrained excitement as she bounced in her chair.

"Indeed, T'Les, where will we go?" T'Mir asked.

Taking a deep breath, T'Les closed her eyes in final acceptance of her decision. "T'Mir would like to take you to Earth. However, I do have some ground rules," she added seeing T'Pol's happiness mirrored in T'Mir's features.

"Ooh! I know Earth! We've studied it in school. We made first contact with the humans 57.3 years ago. They're quite a lot behind us technologically, and they show their emotions openly. Can you imagine that?" the little girl babbled on as her smile grew wider. "Oh! And they have so much water there, the planet is nearly covered in it!"

T'Mir's own grin broadened as she observed the child's joy. T'Les only shook her head disapprovingly. "This is exactly the sort of behavior I do not wish to encourage, T'Pol. You already have such trouble suppressing your emotions, I can not imagine that visiting such a place will be healthy for you." She turned to face her own foremother. "That is why I will not allow you to go to the planet's surface."

"What? Then why go?" T'Mir railed at T'Les. "You know where I want to take her and why. What would be the point in sitting in a ship in orbit?"

"You can share the story with her. Point out the location from orbit, let her see and appreciate the beauty of the planet without being poisoned by its influence. It's not as if there is any memorial on the surface and the location bears no resemblance whatsoever to the town of your memory. I see no logic in taking her down to the planet when an orbital view will do just as well."

Within moments the details were settled. By the afternoon, T'Mir and T'Pol were back at the transport station getting on a shuttle to take them to an orbiting ship headed for Earth. They arrived at the blue and green planet before T'Pol knew it and as soon as it was visible, she barely moved from the small porthole in their quarters. As the planet grew in size outside their window, T'Mir took T'Pol's hand. "Come, child, I have a story to tell you."

Together, they walked to an observation deck and sat side-by-side in comfortable chairs facing the large view ports that allowed them to watch the rotating planet below them. After sitting in silence for a while, T'Pol noticed a single tear trace its way down the elder woman's cheek. "Please, don't cry, T'Mir. What's wrong?"

Turning a smile toward her, T'Mir answered, "Nothing dear. I simply enjoy this view and I shall never see it again." Swiping away the moisture from her face, she reached out again and handed a small parcel to T'Pol. The girl opened it and ran a delicate hand over the soft fabric of the gift.

"What is this?" she asked with wonder.

"That is the ending of my story," T'Mir said. "It is called a handbag, but we will get to it in time. This is the beginning," and with the sweep of her hand she indicated the world outside. Coming up over the horizon was the continent of North America. With a shaky finger, she pointed at an area. "This story is about a little town located there. It is called Carbon Creek, Pennsylvania."

XXXX

"I am pleased that you remember her so fondly," a soft voice said to the adult T'Pol, still seated in the white emptiness.

Looking up, she was surprised to see an image of her mother standing nearby. "You are not real. T'Les died."

Coming closer, the apparition replied, "That is correct, T'Les is dead. I, however, am quite real. I am the shadow of her left upon you by both your own memories and by the meld you shared with T'Pau."

T'Pol stood now, her head tilted in question. "Why would you wish me to think of T'Mir with affection? T'Les was barely tolerant of my second-foremother."

"Outwardly that may have seemed so, but I always envied the freedom T'Mir felt. T'Mir learned a valuable lesson from the humans. It took her many years to realize it, but eventually she did and she put it to practice in her life. She believed the most precious gift the humans had was their capacity to rely on others, to allow their loved ones to share their pain and joy. It gave them great strength."

T'Pol turned back to the image of her child self and the elderly T'Mir that seemed to have been paused in mid-play on the screen of her own mind. "She died less than a month after this journey," T'Pol whispered. "At first, I missed her terribly, but as I grew, I came to despise that part of myself that she had helped keep free. I should not have been so emotionally open at this age," she indicated the scene before them. "I began to see her presence in my life as a liability."

T'Les approached her daughter and placed a loving hand on her shoulder. "I do not regret having raised you in our ways, T'Pol. You know our planet's history; you know why we must be so very careful with our emotions. The violence our people are capable of is nothing short of amazing." She turned T'Pol to face her and as their gazes met, she continued, "but so is the love we can achieve. We should not be afraid to share that love with someone who will understand our limitations and who will appreciate what we have to offer."

"Are you suggesting I abandon the ways of Surak?" T'Pol asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Not in the least, daughter. I am simply saying we should not waste T'Mir's lesson. There is nothing wrong with allowing our innermost selves to be seen by those we care about." T'Les looked over T'Pol's shoulder and into the distance. A slight smile graced her lips as she said, "and I believe that there is someone coming who would understand you well."

T'Pol shifted to look behind her. The image of T'Mir and the child had gone. Now someone was approaching from the distance. It didn't take long before the guest stood beside the women.

"Good afternoon, ladies." A broad smile lit up Trip Tucker's face as he looked from one Vulcan to the other.

"Trip?" T'Pol asked with worry evident in her tone. "How are you here?"

End Chapter Five and One-half


End file.
